Soulful Blues Chord Voicings
In this lesson we take a basic 1625 progression and transform the progression with rich blues piano chords and soulful melodic embellishments that we can use when playing jazz, blues, and other styles of improvised music.
Diatonic 7th Chords
Whilst we can create progressions with the basic diatonic 7th chords, we also have the creative freedom to change the chord qualities to create more interesting harmonic and melodic possibilities.
In particular we can change diatonic minor chords to dominant chords which give us a bluesier and more soulful sound.
Lesson Downloads
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Soulful Chord Progression Formulas File Type: pdf -
Soulful Blues Chord Voicings – Transcription File Type: pdf
Related Lessons
In this lesson we explore gospel walk-ups and walk-downs and how to add chromatic passing chords to our chord progressions.
In this lesson we broaden the harmony of the 145 progression by introducing alternate chord changes, reharms, and passing chords.
We examine some of the most common gospel chord progressions that are used for introductions in churches and for solo piano performance.
Practice Tips
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First learn the chord voicings and memorise the scale tone construction of each chord in the 1625 progression.
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Once the basic voicings have been memorised, incorporate the melodic ornamentation based on the major blues scale of the key.
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In this lesson we play the progression in the keys of C and F major. As an exercise, transpose the voicings to the key of G Major.
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Study the application to the tune "The Nearness Of You" and find other tunes where you can apply this material to fill in the space.
Another great lesson. It’s helpful when lessons are broken down into smaller chunks that can then be applied in various songs.
I hope there’s more lessons to come in this course!
Thanks Dean! Yes there are more lesson to come on this style. I’m currently mapping out the course structure and progression of lessons and topics.
I didn’t mention in this lesson, but in addition to applying this to 1625/3625 cadences in jazz standards such as “Nearness Of You”, we can also use it as a turnaround in the 12 blues blues.
When you arrive at the F/F7 in the 11th bar as played in the slow blues piano lesson, try adding this 1625 sequence which would be Fmaj7, D7#5, G9, C13b9, and this can be used as a turnaround to take us back to F or F7 at the top of the form.
What I’m envisaging with this course is firstly to establish strong foundations using the basic R-3-5-7 voicings, then introducing passing chords and walk-ups/walk-downs, and then a module which introduces more sophisticated harmonies such as the techniques covered in this lesson, and how to apply this style to the entire form of the blues.
Cheers,
Hayden
Thanks Hayden. I look forward to the upcoming lessons. The lessons by Jon Cleary and Josh Paxton are great and I’ve learnt and continue to learn so much from them, but there’s so much information in them that it’s nice to slow it down a little and look at some of the ideas/theory in more detail.
It’s so helpful to see how you can then take these ideas and apply them in different songs/places.
Hayden,
You are outstanding! I leaned the Blues from Novice to Pro and applied it to many songs. :-).
Could you please do a lesson on Ray Charles “Everyday I have the Blues in Bb” PLEASE.
And Thank you, Glenn
Hi Glenn,
Thanks for the comments and yes we can certainly cover Bb Blues.
My current focus is to create a selection of beginner blues courses in different keys such as F, Bb, C, and G.
Also the next lessons will be added to this course very soon, they are currently being edited. More to follow!
Cheers,
Hayden
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